Sunday School Material 10-23-16: The High Priest Forever

Introduction: A key idea in today’s Sunday School material is that Jesus is our great High Priest. Prayerfully, we will be challenged to live like we appreciate Jesus being our High Priest.

Body:

Read Hebrews 7:1-3

I. Priest of God. In our Sunday School material there is mention of
Melchizedek. He was both a king and priest. Abraham was victorious in a battle.
He brought a tithe (10%) of the spoils of victory to the priest.

Melchizedek means “king of
righteousness,” and “king of Salem” means “king of peace. Melchizedek is
compared to the Son of God.

Applications –

- King and Priest. Notice in vs. 1 that Melchizedek was both the
king and priest of God. First, we should be careful about acting as if God has
little to do with the political systems of our day. God is not only concerned
with hearing our complaints about the world’s condition.

He is also concerned with His
people being involved with making a positive impact. We should be open to God
using us and others to carry out His will in the political arena.

Second, God is able to use people
in multiple roles – king and priest. We should not compartmentalize God’s use
of us, nor restrict what God can do through others. Let’s work on appreciating God’s ability to call us to serve in the political
and religious systems of our day.

- Tithing. Notice in vs. 2 that Abraham tithed to Melchizedek – the
priest of God. First, Abraham tithed to the priest before the Mosaic Law, which
suggests that tithing is not restricted to the law.

Second, as believers our greatest
reason for tithing is that we love and thank God so much for what He has
already done for us. Abraham tithed out of what God had given Him, and we
should do the same. Let’s work on tithing
because of our love of God and His work.

Read Hebrews 7:18-22

II. Priest by Divine Oath. There is mention of former regulations
being set aside in our Sunday School material. They were weak and useless. But
through Jesus, a better hope is introduced. Jesus became priest with an oath.
And He is the permanent priest.

Applications –

- From “good to great.”Notice in vss. 18-19 that God moved His
people from “good to great,” by moving them from the law, which could not save
anyone, to grace through Jesus.

First, we should always strive to
be the best that we can be for the Lord. On one hand, we should do the best
that we know how to do, in the moment. But on the other hand, as we learn
better, we should do better.

Second, the idea of going from “good
to great” should be practiced at both an individual and collective/church level. There are things that may have worked in the
past, but when we learn of better ways, we should do better.

We must guard against falling in
love with methods. Let’s work on being
the best that we can be for the Lord – individually and collectively.

- The guarantee. Notice in vss. 19-22 that Jesus guarantees the
better covenant. Jesus is not simply another Bible character. He is the one who
guarantees the covenant of grace.

Let’s
live like we appreciate Jesus’ ministry. Such living should include our
making sure that we are saved and striving to live lives of loving God and
others, as we love ourselves.

Read Hebrews 7:23-28

III. Priests Contrasted. There is a contrasting of human priests
with Jesus in our Sunday School material. Human priest were known for dying,
offering sacrifices for their own sins, and offering sacrifices for the people.

Jesus on the other hand, lives
on. He had no sins to sacrifice for. His sacrificing of Himself satisfies all
that is required because of the sins of His people.

Applications –

- Our limited lives. Notice in vss. 23, 27 that the human priests
died and had only a limited time in their priestly offices. In like manner, we
all have a date with death. Whatever office we hold, the day is coming that we
will not be able to serve.

When a believer dies, we should
thank God that being absent from the body means being present with the Lord. As
we get ready for death (e.g., estate planning, relational lose ends, and most
of all salvation), we should be thankful that we have somewhere to go.

Let’s do the best that we can with the
realization that death is on the way.

- Our permanent High Priest. Notice in vss. 3, 24-28 that Jesus is
the permanent High Priest forever. We should be thankful that Jesus has no
personal sins to deal with. We should be thankful that Jesus’ term of office is
forever.

Let’s live like we appreciate what Jesus has done and is doing for us.
Again this comes back to making sure that we are saved and living by God’s will
for our lives.

Conclusion: Let’s work on making sure that we are one of
God’s people and living like we appreciate the ministry of Jesus. God has much
for those who obey His will.

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